First female commander takes ISS helm

For the first time in history, a female astronaut has taken command of a space station.

Veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (far right in image), on her second extended duration mission aboard the International Space Station, was given command of the orbiting space complex in a ceremony at 2:15 p.m. Eastern today. Her first order of business, recognizing the work done by her predecessor, soon-to-depart Russian commander Fyodor Yurchikhin.

"I would really like to say that a lot of people on the ground in Moscow, and Huntsville, and Houston, appreciate all of the good work you've done," Whitson said. "It's been a very impressive mission."

They exchanged a hug and matter-of-factly handed over control of the outpost.

"That's it," Whitson said to close the four-minute ceremony.

Yurchikhin will return to the Earth in the early morning hours Sunday. Riding home with him in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft will be flight engineer Oleg Kotov, who has lived with him on the outpost since April. Also on board: Shiekh Muszaphar Shukor, a tourist who is on a short-term tourist visit to the outpost.